Fabric washing is old in the art and utilizes a variety of devices and methods to clean fabrics, these include going from the primitive technologies of beating or pounding the fabrics on hard surfaces using a natural water flow such as a river for fabric washing, to hand washing in a tub, and on to the typical current device and method of using a washing machine that requires a water supply, detergent, wastewater drain, and electrical power. The current basic fabric washing machine typically includes a housing that contains a washing tub wherein the washing tub of holds a basket and an oscillating agitator. The washing machine also includes a hot and a cold water feed connection, a wastewater discharge connection, and an electrical power supply. The method of cleaning fabrics in the washing machine includes a fill cycle wherein various temperatures of water are introduced into the tub that is full of soiled fabrics with the addition of detergent until the tub is full of water. The next cycle is the cleaning cycle wherein the agitator circulates the water and the detergent through the soiled fabrics; subsequently the wastewater is pumped out of the tub to the wastewater discharge connection. Next, there is typically the spin cycle that removes excess water from the fabrics by centrifugal force from the tub rotating and that a repeat of the fill cycle with water not having detergent is for the purpose of rinsing the fabrics of residual soils and detergent, again the agitator is used to circulate the rinse water through the fabric. As in the wash cycle, again the wastewater is pumped out of the tub to the wastewater discharge connection and another spin cycle is completed that again removes excess water from the fabrics. At this point there are a number of optional other cycles that can be added to the basic fabric washing machine cycle above mentioned for specific types of fabrics or dirt levels, such as presoak cycles, additional rinse cycles, cycle time adjustment, and varying the temperature of the water in a tub for both the wash and spin cycles. The control of these various steps in washing fabrics is accomplished by the use of timers, electrically controlled water valves, and various other switches and sensors that are controlled by an a preprogrammed controller wherein the user selects a number of different cycle sequences depending upon the type of fabric and how soiled the fabric is.
Current fabric washing technology while performing an adequate job still has room for improvement, as there are a number of drawbacks to the typical washing machine process. The first problem is one of the amount of time that the current washing machine process takes, with an average of 60 to 90 minutes to complete, in addition the soiled fabrics are not thoroughly clean. Currently the washed fabrics contain approximately 2% of the initial detergent that remains entrained within the fabric as well as 2 to 5% of the original dirt remains in the washed fabric. Also, an excessive amount of water is required for the current entire washing process as approximately 60 to 180 liters or 15 to 45 gallons of water used for the entire cleaning process that is a one-tub load of soiled fabrics. In addition, due to the long washing time and large amount of water used an excessive amount of electrical power is consumed. There are numerous other problems related to current washing technology that stem from the use of detergent, first there's the cost of the detergent itself, second there are the byproducts of the detergent such as phosphates that are in the wastewater that are released into the environment, third detergent's hasten breakdown of fabric structure which results in a shorter life of the fabric wherein the fabric deteriorates with each wash, and due to the residual detergent in the fabrics there can be allergic reactions to individual persons wearing these fabrics that have sensitive skin. Also, fabric softeners are added to the wash water to alleviate the undesirable effects of the residual detergent left behind in the washed fabric that further add to costs and environmental pollutants. Another current fabric washing method being dry cleaning typically uses Stoddard solvent as the washing medium that has the attendant problems of fabric break down, environmental pollution, and flammability.
Prior art solutions toward improving the apparatus and method of washing fabrics have focused on developing an apparatus that can produce treated water with an elevated oxidation reduction potential of the treated water, wherein detergent is not required in the treated water for the washing of fabrics, thereby eliminating the previously identified drawbacks related to using detergent in wash water for fabrics. Several prior art devices attempt to condition or treat standard water supplies by increasing the waters oxidation-reduction potential. The oxidation-reduction potential of standard tap water is in the range of 200 millivolts to 250 millivolts and needs to be treated to increase the oxidation-reduction potential to approximately 650 and higher. The theory is that this treated water will attract contaminants from the fabric being washed into suspension in the wash water wherein the contaminants are removed and the fabrics are washed without the use of adding a detergent to the fabric wash water, the benefit being eliminating all the attendant aforementioned drawbacks of having to use detergent. Also, hot water is not required, thus resulting in further energy savings. Some prior art processes have used ozone which is a gas at room temperature by adding ozone to water resulting in an oxidizing agent allowing the washing of fabrics in water without detergent, however, maintaining the stability over time of the ozone content in the water has proven difficult, which has led to increased use of utilizing electrolytically produced oxidants in the wash water.
One such apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,572 to Kim that uses an electrolyzer apparatus that includes anode and cathode units that are alternately arranged in a sandwich type fashion separated from each other by ion exchange membranes. Two inlet streams of water introduced into the apparatus wherein one water stream is routed through the anode sections and the other water stream is routed through the cathode sections, and resulting in two treated water outlet streams, with the anode stream being highly acidic and the cathode stream being highly alkaline that cumulates in an elevated oxidation reduction electric potential ranging from −900 to +1180. The Kim device has several drawbacks, namely requiring a variable thickness spacer between the anode and cathode unit cells to optimize performance, has a consumable catalyst on the anode and cathode, and requires the addition of salt and vinegar being used as an electrolyte to enhance the electrical conductivity of the electrolyzer allowing lower voltages to be used. Also, the Kim device fails to disclose either an apparatus or method for utilizing the electrolyzer apparatus in conjunction with a fabric washing machine dealing specifically with the fluid interaction and cycles that would be required to use the electrolyzer for the washing of fabrics.
Another device in this area is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,490 to Sweeney which describes a closed loop large scale commercial laundry treatment system including a washing machine, a filtered wastewater holding tank, and a make up water tank containing an electrolytic cell that produces mixed oxidants that are dissolved in the make up water for use in the washing process that will oxidize deleterious components from the fabric being washed. The electrolytic cell includes three adjacent circumferential bands that are the cathode, membrane, and anode respectively that are in a cylindrical housing that is immersed in a larger tank that contains the make up water. Pumps circulate the water over the cell and introduce air bubbles to increase the efficiency of the process and transfer treated water to the washing machine, where the treated water has an oxidation-reduction electric potential of about 800. This is a batch type system wherein the make up tank water is treated with salt being added for increased electrical conductance. Drawbacks of Sweeney are that it is only a recycle system designed specifically for large commercial washers with the make up tank containing 55 gallons and requires measured amounts of salt depend upon the condition of the makeup tank water and takes 30 minutes to reach full oxidation strength at which time the fabric washing machine is inoperable.
What is needed is a washing machine designed for individual consumer use occupying the same physical size envelope as a conventional washing machine that can take advantage of the oxidation-reduction cleaning technology. This would require a small but efficient oxidation reduction cell that is self contained and controlled that functions as a continuous process device to maintain an optimum oxidation reduction potential of the water during the washing cycle. This would enable the individual consumer to have all the benefits of this technology by eliminating the use of detergent, sanitizing the washed fabrics, extending fabric life, reducing environmental pollutants, reducing wash time, reducing the water consumed, reducing the electrical power consumed, lessening the chance of allergic reactions to residual detergents in fabrics, and better cleaning of the washed fabrics by having a much reduced residual soil left in the fabric.